Early Education of a Werewolf
by Bebop Valentine
Summary: The bite, the first trasformation, school, and the Marauders. This story follows Moony though his childhood. : Probably over rated for later chapters


_Prologue: The Attack_

_"Two roads diverge in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference."_

_                                                                                                  "A Road Not Taken", Robert Frost_          

My memory of that night is a bit like a start, and stop film Lily once showed me, chunks 

of time are missing, certain details lost, others burned into my mind.

The town was asleep, not so much as a cricket made itself heard.

I faced my house, hardly daring to believe my luck, not only had a managed to get out, but a burst of young magic reversed the spell that our parents put around the yard.

I turned and made a dash for the magical forest that bordered our property, excitement rising in me, the adventures I had played in my head of, defeating a manicore, or roping a thestral seemed more possible then ever before.

          The trees seemed to lean over me blocking out the silvery light of the full moon, and the eerie quiet of the night was suddenly broken by an explosion of animal chatter and bird cries – it was as if  I had tripped some sort of alarm. The first thrill of fear went though me, but without a backward glance I started down the worn trail. The darkness was so complete I couldn't see anything, I was listening hard every rustle of leaves could mean a unicorn, every snapping twig an approaching centaur.

A sudden ray of moon light shot though the thick canopy illuminating a path cut though the underbrush, bushes were uprooted, bent saplings branches were sweeping the ground in  front of me. As I paused looking at a gouge in a tree, I heard a faint growl. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. That should have been my cue to get out, but hindsight 

is twenty\twenty .

I walked for maybe five more minuets before I heard the slither of leaves, but I knew I was in trouble when a flock of unseen birds abruptly took flight with a chorus of frightened squawks. Finally sensing danger my heart hammering, I began walking slowly backward, suddenly aware of a soft padding of paws near me. I started to turn, to run when a cloud of fairies, jabbering madly shot out of the darkness swarmed around my head. Disoriented, trying to fight them off I fell hard backward on my wrists, shock waves ran though my arms and settled in my chest.

When the fairies got organized and the last one that had been twittering at my ear zoomed away, I felt the hot breath on the back of my neck and heard a pronounced growl. I looked over my shoulder and felt my breath stick in my throat. Standing over me with it's blue eyes narrowed, and it's tongue flicking between it's barred teeth was a huge brown wolf.

I tried to scream but it  came out as a strangled whimper and I scrambled back from it trying to gain purchase on the ground, but I was shaking so hard it was impossible.

It snarled and pounced. 

My scream vibrated though the air as it's jaws clamped down on my shoulder.

                                      *        *        *

_Chapter One: What do we do about Remus?_

_"And twilight would come - the time I hated more then ever, whether the day had been glorious or vexing, the trembling would start."_

_"The Vampire Lestat", Anne Rice_

My parents, graduates of Hogwarts, Ravenclaw House, relocated from Rowena's Glen to, France when Dad got promoted, he was suddenly "The Ministry's ambassador to France's Upper House" Layman's term: A go between.

So they took Adora, five at the time and me, barely a  year and moved to Auvergne, a small but bustling town not to far from Paris, a fair amount of the population was magical.

My path in life was set in more ways then one with the childhood pursuit of forbidden knowledge. 

Mum once caught me with one of the older editions of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them  looking at the pencil sketches of the animals, she took it saying that some of the pictures were too scary for me. 

I convinced Adora to read it to me.

The  magical forest bordering our property, was the second largest in the country it was of course off limits to us.

We all know how that worked out.  I was so young and foolish.

I don't know what happened after the attack. I woke up to a riot of noise pounding in my ears, for a moment I couldn't make it out, then the volume was turned down and the sounds started to separate themselves: The bubbling of the  potion, unfamiliar voices calling to each other from a distance, Adora sobbing, that made me open my eyes. To me at five years old, nine year old Adora  seemed like an adult… adults didn't cry unless there was a reason.

I blinked up at the ceiling… this wasn't my room, my room had a poster of the Wilsborn Wasps taped above my bed. I looked down at the sheet covering me… I was in the hospital. I turned my head groggily to one side, my sister saw that I was awake and smiled whipping tears off her face. "Hi" she mouthed, then put a finger to her lips, and pointed to the curtain surrounding my bed.

…"A-are you sure?" my father's fearful voice.

"Positive," came my doctor's thick accent "No other creature could have left those bites."

My mother's voice thick with tears but with an edge of anger: "It doesn't matter what did it! Is he going to be all right?"

"Astrid, how can you say it doesn't matter?"

"Doctor, I don't care if he turns into a flying squirrel every Tuesday! Is he going to live!"

What were they talking about?  I was sore all over and I felt so sick, couldn't  we just go 

home?

"There's no way to tell at this stage—we're doing all we can."

"You better be." My father growled

_The forest, a far away growl…_

"What are you implying?" The doctor asked, offence creeping into his voice.

_The padding of paws…_

"I know what can happen in these cases, and if I get so much as an inkling that your not 

doing everything magic can to keep my son alive-"

_Narrowed eyes, bared teeth…_

"Jack, I pity the life the poor boy will have but I would never think of letting him die!"

_A snarl, a pounce…_  I looked at my left shoulder, it had a thick bandage covering it.

My mother's voice full of danger: "You better be telling the truth—"

"WOLF!" I screamed

The curtain was pulled back and they rushed to my bedside.

In near hysterics told them what happened. I remember saying I was sorry for sneaking out and past the border.

Mum "shh-ed" gently, hugging me tightly  Dad was trying to calm down Dorie, who had started to cry again. The doctor had snuck out of the room.

Recovery took a long time, (well a long time in a child's way of thinking  it was probably about two weeks) and once it was certain that I was out of the woods, the question on everyone's lips was "What do we do  about Remus?"

                                      *        *        *

I was sore and my shoulder was still healing when my dad took me to the Werewolf 

Registration Office. I remember him carrying me into the long low English Embassy building telling me it was going to be all right. 

People smiled and nodded as we passed. A jittery man from Dad's department I knew as Jinkens, walked quickly to dad's side "Jack, we're having a problem with the Love Potion Ban, the French Minister is having none of it, I've been getting  owls all morning!" 

Dad shifted me in his arms "Phillip, I'm not on duty today, can you pester me 

tomorrow?" Without waiting for an answer he kept walking, I watched over his shoulder as Phillip shrugged and walked in the opposite direction head bent over a piece of parchment.

We passed a lot of doors I recognized from when he had taken me to work, but we didn't stop until we came to one with no frosted glass window, or writing, in fact at first I thought it was a closet.

Inside was a long corridor, decorated only by torch brackets every few  feet and a sign by the door written in both English and French.

I struggled slightly with the words but made them out as we walked away.

Spirit Division

Centaur Liaison   

Werewolf Registration

We soon came to a three way fork in the grey hall, we went left and dad stopped at another plain door he reached for the handle and tensed

"Dad?" He was scared, he was never scared, this in turn scared me.

"It's all right Remus." He kissed my forehead, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

I had closed my eyes tight, when I opened them again I was surprised to see a comfortable waiting room, done in a soft blue, with a tired looking woman in dark green robes sitting behind a large oak desk. Her dark hair was pulled into a pony-tail, and her brown eyes were under lined with purple half moons, she wore a weary look that I would soon see in the mirror.

She looked up and smiled "Hi Jack." She spoke with a heavy French accent "Thaddeus will see you in a moment, he's in a meeting, in the meantime, fill out these forms."  

Dad nodded and sat me in an over stuffed grey chair and slumped heavily beside me a quill in his hand.

I looked around the room—there wasn't much to see, paintings of landscapes,  and a few snoozing portraits. I quickly got bored and took a small bag out of my pocket, inside was mine and Adora's chocolate frog card collection. I was particularly interested in hers, she had never let me near them before.

I was happily going though the cards and paused to watch Morgrain LaFay yawn widely when angry voices burst though the door behind the receptionists desk

"Give me a valid reason why you won't hire this woman!"

"You want valid? Dear sir look where we're sitting!"

"This is checking wand cores, not  tracking moon phases! Your reasoning is nothing more then bigotry!"

"How dare you!"

The woman at the desk seemed to have had enough. Rubbing her temple she shot a 

silencing spell at the wall behind her, and smiled apologetically at us: "Sorry about  that, sometimes Thad's diplomatic charms fail him."

I was looking at the room, my head cocked to one side nerves flooding me. Dad must have seen this because he took a card out of my hand:

"How did you two get Samson the Surly? I spent, my childhood and all of my pocket money looking for him!" He made a move to pocket it.

Grinning I grabbed for it.

"All right," he said with mock reluctance, "you caught me." Unfortunately, this attempt to distract me was lost a few moments later when two men and a young woman came out of the office. The man in green robes matching the secretary's was red in the face, the other man, in black,  looked enraged. The girl in light pink was looking down at her hands, her blonde hair making a curtain, I couldn't see her face.

"You are the worse case of narrow-mindedness I have seen in years!" The green clad wizard snapped. 

The one in black replied with a string of swear words in rapid French, I translated a fair few before dad put his hands over my ears. The secretary shot the wizard a stern look, and nodded in my direction.

He looked at me. At that age I couldn't read the expression in his eyes,  but looking back after seeing it countless times, I know it was the then unfamiliar mix of disgust, fear, and superiority – in that order.

He turned on his heel and stalked out.

Dad's hand was on my shoulder, he was glaring at the door which had just closed.

The secretary sighed straightening her papers "Thaddeus, you need to stop letting your temper get the better of you."

"I know I know Claudia," Then to the girl in pink "I'm sorry you didn't get the job Livia, and very sorry you had to sit through that."

She lifted her head for the first time and she was smiling, though it was strained "It's all right Thad, I can't get upset every time  that happens – I'm young, I have years of getting shot down ahead of me." she said her good-byes, on her way out she smiled at me sadly.

Thaddeus rubbed his eyes and looked up "Jack, you two come on in."

          The office was as plain as the waiting room, the only interesting thing in the whole room was a large lunar clock in the wall behind the desk. I stared at it as I climbed into another grey chair and took my cards out again.

Thaddeus slumped into his desk chair, out of the corner of my eye I saw him shake hands with dad.

"Hello Remus."

I looked up, he still made me nervous "Hi."

"Your dad tells me you had a bit of an accident."  

I scowled  down at my cards. An accident was when you fell and scrapped your knee. I was far to sore for an accident.

I shrugged

"How do you feel?"

"Okay."

"Well, we're going to have to do some special things for you."

I frowned again, I had a feeling that when he said special, it was like when Mum makes something 'special' for dinner… most of the time we voted to go to the local café.

"Okay." I said again

He smiled, I went back to my cards listening vaguely to he and dad talk.

"Jack I wish I could tell you Remus will live a normal life…"

I picked up the card Dad had tried to pocket. Samson the Surly  was a scowling wizard with a rather flat face. He blinked at me and slumped out of the frame. I flipped it over and read:

_"Samson the Surly is known best for his innovation in curses, most notably: Jelly Legs _

_and Inpedement both of which he tested, to great effect, on a set of neighbors he described as "Annoying beyond endurance."_

_He currently resides in Ireland in an undisclosed location,   with the message "Look for me at your own risk."_

"…There is a lot of mistrust and bigotry," there was a bite to his voice, "toward werewolves – he might not be excepted into any of the magical schools in Europe-"

At this I looked up "I can't go to school!?" I asked feeling a pang of panic, and disappointment. When the older kids came home for the summer, I always envied them for all the things they must have learned.

"Don't worry Remus," Thad said "there's a day school you can go to, and you'll be with kids like you."

I guessed that meant that the kids had had the same "accident" I did.

"What exactly is this school like?" Dad asked putting a calming hand on my shoulder

"It's financed by the Registry-"

"Which means you're under funded." Dad finished

"Yes, but the children get a quality education."

Dad nodded but he didn't look happy.

"When he gets out of school we will help him find work."

Dad nodded again.

"Now I think I should prepare him for what's coming."

"Thad," My dad said in a warning tone, "Do you really think he can handle this?"

"It's best that he knows."

He proceeded to tell me in a very business like way all the things I knew but was trying not to think about, in an even tone he told me about the lengthening bones and the dislocated joints, the self inflicted bites and scratches.

He sounded like he had went though this a thousand times and he was on auto  pilot  

He was trying to shield me from any surprises, but at the time he just scared me. By time he had finished I had abandoned the cards and climbed on dad's lap.

"…He's not going to feel up to much for a couple of days after, you'll have to make him a mild pain killer, at his age he can't handle full force."

A few more details (strong silencing charms, what to do if I was found out.) and dad scooped up the cards and with me  clinging to his neck we left the office, Thaddeus followed us out, shook my dad's hand again, then said to me: "See you soon Remus."

He gave me a smile and disappeared into the office again.

Claudia looked at us, we were probably as pale as parchment, she got up "He tries," she said to dad, "He's read all the books on lycathropy, but he's never been though it."

She smiled at me, she had a very pretty smile "What's your name?" she asked in a 

friendly voice.

"Remus."

"Your alittle scared aren't you?"

I nodded

"Try not to think about it," she opened the top drawer in her desk "Thinking about it before it happens, makes it worse." She smiled a little and handed me a box of chocolate 

frogs. I smiled back. Chocolate: The five year old's cure all.

"Thank you."

"Your welcome." She ruffled my hair.

Her I liked.

Over the next couple of weeks I did my best to follow Claudia's advice, but the day of the full moon, the whole house was so tense I couldn't pretend anymore.

Just after sunset mum took me down to the cellar, it had been made up into a makeshift bedroom She sat on the camp bed next to me and we both stared at the water stain on the wall.

She was hugging herself like she was cold even though it was mid-July.

The prospect of leaving her child to hurt himself must have been clashing violently with her mother's instincts. But at that time I barely noticed.

She took a deep breath and gave me a one armed hug "I'll see you in the morning" she said in a It'll-be-over-soon-enough voice.

I nodded.

She kissed my forehead and left, I heard the door lock. I laid back and waited.

I kept thinking about what Thaddeus had told me about the transformation.

Dislocated joints, searing pain.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. I had to think of something else.

I forced my mind on the Quidditch match we'd seen last week. It was a junior ledge made up of kids training for the up coming season.

It was an exciting game there were four fouls were called before the first goal was scored. Unfortunately that was all I saw of it for a while as a late comer with a big head sat right in front of me. I sat there scowling until an opportunity to good to pass presented itself, when our team's Seeker was fouled Adora let fire a streak of words unbecoming a nine year old. While mum scolded her, I crawled up to an empty space at the top of the stands.

"Remus!"

I grinned and waved at her. She slumped in her seat with her hand on her forehead. She had been successfully double played and I got to watch the rest of the game with a phoenix's eye view.

I giggled at the memory just as I felt pins and needles sizzle though my joints.

I shot a look out the ground level window, it was dark. 

I was soon whimpering at the sharp pains, but my first scream came when I saw the first traces of fur sprout on my arms.

The worst of it came all at once: my shoulders popped out of place with a sickening sound, my spine lengthened, I smelt blood as my fingernails transformed into claws. I was screaming from fear as much as pain.

The last thing I remember was a near  animal shriek.

Six years later...

I shut my eyes tight against the light coming from the direction of the cellar window.

In my state the light of a candle could slice though my corneas. Sunlight - forget it. But before I could gather the strength to throw a blanket over it, I hear the door open and mum's sneakers padding across the floor. She did it for me plunging the room in pleasant gloom again.

It wasn't until I heard her footsteps come nearer, at level with my head that I realized I was on the floor... I must have hurled the bed across the room, the idea I could do things like that still amazed me.

She knelt down "How do you feel, Mouse?"

It was a stupid question but always the first one asked. "Moon addled." I muttered I opened one eye a fraction, she was smiling and shaking her head. "When ever your ready," she said wiping my long bangs back. I had long ago refused to be carried, on my more stubborn days I refused help all together - this wasn't one of those days.

Wincing I forced myself into a sitting postion, and mum helped me into dad's study where I arranged myself on the couch, I would spend the better part of two days here.

I heard the clink of glass on wood as a mug of painkiller was set down on the coffee table next to me.

"Slowly Remus." she cautioned

"I _know_." I muttered not opening my eyes. If drank to quickly that stuff could knock you for a memorable loop, so it had to be sipped, still it only took the edge off.

She smiled at my tone  (the only time I could be short with my parents and get away with it) and went into the living room, leaving the study door ajar - closed enough to give me the illusion of privacy but open enough for her and the rest of the family could do regular checks.

One arm over my eyes I groped for the mug, took a sip and shuddered.

Well, I hadn't done major damage to myself, like a couple of months before when I had gouged my arm and found later that I had come dangerously close to an artery. And there wasn't a mob at the door with silver and flaming torches (which was what had happened in Auvergne a year before, the Registry relocated us just  outside Paris city limits)

All in all I considered it a clean transformation.

I lay there hovering between sleep and boredom, when I heard Mum whisper: "I have a few errands to run Dorie, look after your brother."

I felt a stab of annoyance.

The fact that at eleven I had to be "looked after" at all was enough to make me roll my eyes, but that I was so helpless after my transformations was down right irritating.

          My bad mood sufficiently increased I started to brood, it was disrupted by a soft scream from the direction of the living room window that cut into my sensitive ears.

I forced my eyes open and tried to get myself to go see what was wrong, but before I could sit up Adora pushed the door open, in the dim light I could see she was smiling.

"Something interesting came in the post," She said in a soft sing-song.

I raised one eyebrow in encouragement.

With a flourish she put a parchment envelope on the coffee table and slid it across to me- she always did have to make a show of things.

Resisting the urge to shake my head (more to avoid sea-sickness) I cracked a half smile in spite of myself, and picked up the letter.

_                             Mr. R. Lupin_

_                              Loft Bedroom_

_                             9 Olive Drive_

_                             Bunker, France_

I blinked and turned it over to see the Hogwarts seal that I knew from mum's Prefect badge.

My heart started to beat fast.

I'd gotten a letter both from Hogwarts and Baxabotons (The latter because dad was an embassy member) a month earlier. My parents then wrote them about my being a werewolf. Three days later they'd gotten back a polite letter from Baxabotons, saying they weren't "Equipped to handle a student with such a condition."

Dorie was furious that her school could be so closed minded.

What bothered me was that they had sent the rejection to my parents, it was as if I was suddenly an animal that couldn't understand them.

I felt the letter, it was too think to be a rejection. I took a deep breath and ripped it open...

Dear Mr. Lupin,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

           Due to your special circumstances the Headmaster wishes to meet with you before the start of term September 1, please owl a convenient time.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

I glanced behind me where Dorie was reading over my shoulder.

 "It says what I think it does?" I was making sure I didn't need a dose of her anti-hallucination potion.

"Your in." she said  grinning.

I felt like jumping up and turning cartwheels, I contented myself with  throwing the letter over my head and whooping.

Not the best of ideas, but I ignored my shoulder popping and the ringing in my ears.

"Remy!" Dorie laughed gathering the papers "I think you'll need this."

Running footsteps announced mum's return home. She skidded to a halt at the doorway out of breath with an apothecary bag swinging in her hand.

"What's going on?!" she panted

Dorie hurried to hand her the letter, she read the first few lines and her face broke into a grin.

"When can we go?" I asked eagerly

She looked like she wanted to whoop herself but she folded the parchments, and still smiling said "You need to get your strength back, when your recovered, then we'll set a time."

"But-" I started to protest

"Which is all the more reason for you to settle down, and try to get some sleep." she said firmly. but she hugged me and left re-reading it.

"Hogwarts," Dorie said ruffling my hair, "Your in for it now baby brother."

I grinned and stuck my tongue out at her, she returned it as she left.

I laid back and tried to relax, the last thing I heard before dropping off was mum reading the letter to dad over the fire.


End file.
